airbus a380

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18 years 8 months

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hi when does the a380 start flying and what british airports are getting it

anyone know what airlines are getting it as well

thanks peter

Original post

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19 years 8 months

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Only airport initially expecting regular A380 ops is LHR.

Orders so far are from:

Air France
China Southern
Emirates (pax and F)
Etihad
FedEx Express (F)
ILFC
Korean Air
Lufthansa
Malaysia
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Singapore Airlines
Thai
UPS (F)
Virgin Atlantic

Andy

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18 years 8 months

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hi andy thanks 4 the info any idea wot date it will be flyin

peter

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19 years 8 months

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Depends how the fatigue and flight test programme go.....

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19 years 6 months

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The A380 has now been flying for about seven months conducting the main phase of its development program. A second prototype recently took the air last week while a third is expected sometime next week or the following week.
First delivery to a customer will be to Singapore airline when they take delivery of its first aircraft in November 2006 with a possible revenue service taking place mid to late December 2006. First service route will either be between SIN-LHR or SIN-MEL depending on decisions made at Singapore Airlines head office.

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18 years 11 months

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Landed fifteen minutes ago in Frankfurt, first airport visit outside France! :)

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18 years 8 months

Posts: 1,101

Airlines

Only airport initially expecting regular A380 ops is LHR.

Orders so far are from:

Air France
China Southern
Emirates (pax and F)
Etihad
FedEx Express (F)
ILFC
Korean Air
Lufthansa
Malaysia
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Singapore Airlines
Thai
UPS (F)
Virgin Atlantic

Andy

And Kingfisher.

Depends how the fatigue and flight test programme go.....

The flight test programme proved that A380 flies better than expected. The landing/takeoff speed turned out to be 4 knots less than supposed 137 knots... about 3% speed means 6% less takeoff or landing distance, so A380 can use runways originally thought too short!

First service route will either be between SIN-LHR or SIN-MEL depending on decisions made at Singapore Airlines head office.

I know that Melbourne is also prepared for A380, but I thought Sydney would be the very first destination.

Anyway, A380 is supposed to fly to Brisbane soon.

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19 years 6 months

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Only airport initially expecting regular A380 ops is LHR.

I'm pencilling in Oct 2007 for MAN.

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18 years 8 months

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Airline?

I'm pencilling in Oct 2007 for MAN.

Which airline?
The first 3 are Singapore in December 2006 and Qantas and Emirates in April 2007. They all seem to be most interested in the kangaroo route on the slot-limited LHR. Which airlines will get A380 in Summer 2007, and where will they operate?

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One of the airlines you mention already operates two wide-body flights a day into MAN and is reportedly planning further expansion. ;)

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18 years 8 months

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One of the airlines you mention already operates two wide-body flights a day into MAN and is reportedly planning further expansion. ;)

Ah, looking into it, it is Emirates.

Which of the Emirates´ A380 layouts is supposed to serve Manchester in October 2007? One of the 3-class (under 500 seat) ones or the 2-class, 656-seat one?

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19 years 11 months

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Has anyone said that Emirates are starting A380 ops into MAN in October 2007?

I certainly didn't. :confused:

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18 years 11 months

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Has anyone said that Emirates are starting A380 ops into MAN in October 2007?

I certainly didn't. :confused:

Noooooo, But,but,but,but they have ordered 45 of the biggies, so they have to land somewhere :D

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Noooooo, But,but,but,but they have ordered 45 of the biggies, so they have to land somewhere :D

I think they are due delivery over a long time. So, in October 2007, there are not very many Airbus 380-s in service, and those that are would serve a few most loaded/prestigious routes for their airlines.

How many A380-s would Emirates have as of October 2007? And where would they land them? I suspect they have options other than Heathrow and Manchester...

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19 years 6 months

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Strange to read that a 3rd EK MAN flight appears to be back on the agenda....if that happens, then I guess we can rule out potential A380 ops until 2009/2010.

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20 years 10 months

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Orders so far are from:

UPS (F)

I had a UPS jumpseater who said that the pilot group would be suprised if their A380 orders ever materialized. He had a few reasons why it probably was more smoke and mirrors than anything else. I guess, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

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18 years 5 months

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Does anyone know (or know anyone who does) who has seen the inside yet? Just curious to see how the stairs are laid out etc.

Also, it's just came to mind, what's the deal with the cockpit? It looks like it's in between the two cabins, with a large crew rest area?

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Does anyone know (or know anyone who does) who has seen the inside yet? Just curious to see how the stairs are laid out etc.

Also, it's just came to mind, what's the deal with the cockpit? It looks like it's in between the two cabins, with a large crew rest area?

I don't think any of the flying prototypes have had any interiors fitted just yet, although one of them is scheduled to fly to Hamburg shortly to have the first cabin fitted. I believe the airframe in question will be the next aircraft to join the test program. If I am not mistaken, the next first flight should be executed shortly, within the next couple of weeks.

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Image

Does anyone know (or know anyone who does) who has seen the inside yet? Just curious to see how the stairs are laid out etc.


I think airliners.net has one image of the test interior, which is probably the only interior around:


Click Here
to view the photo

Note the width and slope of the forward staircase.

There is supposed to be another, narrow curved staircase in the back as well as lifts. Not sure if there are any stairs to underbelly.

The second test frame I think does not have a passenger interior either, as mentioned. Of course the details of test interior might differ.

As the decks of A380 are loaded with the pressurization, like the upper deck of 747 and unlike the main deck of A300/340 series or Tristar, DC-10, B777, Il-86 or so, it might be tricky to move the staircase openings around. The 380F has a narrower staircase across the width of the plane, but F is structurally rather different...

An the first interior to be fitted is probably NOT the 555-seat one they advertise, nor would it contain luxuries. I think Airbus is looking to get 873 people out of A380, so they have to cram in all those seats.

Of course, one wonders about the fatality rates expected in the Hamburg test evacuation. When a Saudi B747 recently evacuated in Sri Lanka due to a bomb scare, out of 430 passengers, over 60 were injured and one woman perished. Mind you, there was no bomb in fact, no fire, no crash damage whatever, so presumably all exits were usable - in test evacuations, half exits are supposed to be blocked. Also, while a A380 upper deck is only slightly higher than that of B747, they have much more passengers there - cannot remember whether it is 15, 69, 85 or 110 on B747 upper deck, but apart from the upper deck slides, descending the stair and using lower deck slides should be easier than on A380!

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I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be on the first full service revenue flight.

Although I very much prefer Boeing, I'm still in awe at this Leviathan of an aircraft. Truly is one of, if not, the Worlds most anticipated aircraft.

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I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be on the first full service revenue flight.

Indeed it is hard. Interestingly, while the airlines make some advertising of Airbus 380, they so far reveal little of what the actual interior would be like. I think that Singapore has not said much except that there would be less than 480 seats and new interior solutions.

(That under 480 is not odd: Singapore also has less than the standard 416 seats on Boeing 747, namely 372 or 375 in different layouts.)